【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 tten into a script in advance。 he was the kind of ic who used his physical senses to invent his art as he went along. 卓別林并沒有把他的笑料事先寫成文字。他是那種邊表演邊根據(jù)感覺去創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)的喜劇演員。 Lifeless objects especially helped Chaplin make contact with himself as an artist. 沒有生命的物體特別有助于卓別林發(fā)揮自己藝術(shù)家的天賦。 He turned them into other kinds of objects. 他將這些物體想象成其他東西。 Thus, a broken alarm clock in the movie The Pawnbroker became a sick patient undergoing surgery。 boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soles eaten with salt and pepper like prime cuts of fish (the nails being removed like fish bones). 因此，在《當(dāng)鋪老板》中，一個壞鬧鐘變成了正在接受手術(shù)的“病人”；在《淘金記》中，靴子被放在鍋里煮，靴底被蘸著鹽和胡椒吃掉，就像上好的魚片一樣（鞋釘就像魚骨那樣被剔除）。 This physical transformation, plus the skill with which he executed it again and again, is surely the secret of Chaplin39。s great edy.這種對事物的轉(zhuǎn)化，以及他一次又一次做出這種轉(zhuǎn)化的技巧，正是卓別林偉大喜劇的奧秘所在。 He also had a deep need to be loved—and a corresponding fear of being betrayed. 他也深切地渴望被愛，同時也害怕遭到背叛。 The two were hard to bine and sometimes—as in his early marriages—the collision between them resulted in disaster. 這兩者很難結(jié)合在一起，有時這種沖突導(dǎo)致了災(zāi)難，就像他早期的幾次婚姻那樣。 Yet even this painfullybought selfknowledge found its way into his ic creations. 然而即使是這種以沉重代價換來的自知之明也在他的喜劇創(chuàng)作中得到了表現(xiàn)。 The Tramp never loses his faith in the flower girl who39。ll be waiting to walk into the sunset with him。 while the other side of Chaplin makes Monsieur Verdoux, the French wife killer, into a symbol of hatred for women. “流浪漢”始終沒有失去對賣花女的信心，相信她正等待著與自己共同走進(jìn)夕陽之中；而卓別林的另一面使他的凡爾杜先生，一個殺了妻子的法國人，成為了仇恨女人的象征。 It39。s a relief to know that life eventually gave Charlie Chaplin the stability and happiness it had earlier denied him. 令人寬慰的是，生活最終把卓別林先前沒能獲得的穩(wěn)定和幸福給了他。 In Oona O39。Neill Chaplin, he found a partner whose stability and affection spanned the 37 years age difference between them, which had seemed so threatening, that when the official who was marrying them in 1942 turned to the beautiful girl of 17 who39。d given notice of their wedding date, he said, And where is the young man? —Chaplin, then 54, had cautiously waited outside. 他找到了沃娜奧尼爾卓別林這個伴侶。她的沉穩(wěn)和深情跨越了他們之間37歲的年齡差距。他們的年齡差別太大，以致當(dāng)1942年他們要結(jié)婚時，新娘公布了他們的結(jié)婚日期后，為他們辦理手續(xù)的官員問這位漂亮的17歲姑娘：“那個年輕人在哪兒？”──當(dāng)時已經(jīng)54歲的卓別林小心翼翼在外面等候著。 As Oona herself was the child of a large family with its own problems, she was well prepared for the battle that Chaplin39。s life became as many unfounded rumors surrounded them both—and, later on, she was the center of calm in the quarrels that Chaplin sometimes sparked in his own large family of talented children.由于沃娜本人出生在一個被各種麻煩困擾的大家庭，她對卓別林生活中將面臨的挑戰(zhàn)也做好了充分準(zhǔn)備，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時關(guān)于他倆有很多毫無根據(jù)的流言。后來在他那個有那么多天才孩子的大家庭中，卓別林有時會引發(fā)爭吵，而她則成了安寧的中心。 Chaplin died on Christmas Day 1977. 卓別林死于1977年圣誕節(jié)。 A few months later, a couple of almost ic body thieves stole his body from the family burial chamber and held it for money. 幾個月后，幾個近乎可笑的盜尸者從他的家庭墓室盜走了他的尸體以借此詐錢。 The police recovered it with more efficiency than Mack Sennett39。s clumsy Keystone Cops would have done, but one can39。t help feeling Chaplin would have regarded this strange incident as a fitting memorial—his way of having the last laugh on a world to which he had given so many.警方追回了他的尸體，其效率比麥克塞納特拍攝的啟斯東喜劇片中的笨拙警察要高得多。但是人們不禁會感到，卓別林一定會把這一奇怪的事件看作是對他的十分恰當(dāng)?shù)募o(jì)念──他以這種方式給這個自己曾為之帶去這么多笑聲的世界留下最后的笑聲。Unit3 A welfare client is supposed to cheat. Everybody expects it. 人人都覺得福利救濟(jì)對象是在騙人。 Faced with sharing a dinner of raw pet food with the cat, many people in wheelchairs I know bleed the system for a few extra dollars. 當(dāng)我認(rèn)識的許多坐輪椅的人面臨與寵物貓分吃生貓食的窘境時，都會向福利機(jī)構(gòu)多騙取幾美元。為了能領(lǐng)到一點(diǎn)額外的福利款， They tell the government that they are getting two hundred dollars less than their real pension so they can get a little extra welfare money. 他們告訴政府說他們實(shí)際上少拿了200美元的養(yǎng)老金， Or, they tell the caseworker that the landlord raised the rent by a hundred dollars.或告訴社會工作者，說房東又將房租漲了100 美元。 I have opted to live a life of plete honesty. 我選擇了過一種完全誠實(shí)的生活， So instead, I go out and drum up some business and draw cartoons. 因此我不會那樣做，而是四處找活，攬些畫漫畫的活。 I even tell welfare how much I make! 我甚至還告訴福利機(jī)構(gòu)我賺了多少錢！ Oh, I39。m tempted to get paid under the table. 哦，私下里領(lǐng)一筆錢當(dāng)然對我挺有吸引力， But even if I yielded to that temptation, big magazines are not going to get involved in some sticky situation. 但即使我擋不住這種誘惑，我投稿的那些大雜志也不會去給自己惹麻煩。 They keep my records, and that information goes right into the government39。s puter. 他們會保留我的記錄，而這些記錄會直接進(jìn)入政府的電腦。 Very highprofile.真是態(tài)度鮮明，毫不含糊。 As a welfare client I39。m expected to bow before the caseworker. 作為一名福利救濟(jì)對象，我必須在社會工作者面前卑躬屈膝。 Deep down, caseworkers know that they are being made fools of by many of their clients, and they feel they are entitled to have clients bow to them as pensation. I39。m not being bitter. 社會工作者心里知道，許多救濟(jì)對象在欺騙他們，因此他們覺得，作為補(bǔ)償，他們有權(quán)讓救濟(jì)對象向他們點(diǎn)頭哈腰。我并不是故意感到忿忿不平。 Most caseworkers begin as collegeeducated liberals with high ideals. 大多數(shù)社會工作者剛開始時都是些大學(xué)畢業(yè)生，有理想，而且思想開明。 But after a few years in a system that practically requires people to lie, they bee like the one I shall call Suzanne, a detective in shorts.可是，在這個實(shí)際上是要人撒謊的體制里干了幾年后，他們就變得與那個叫“蘇珊娜”的人一樣了──一個穿運(yùn)動短褲的偵探。 Not long after Christmas last year, Suzanne came to inspect my apartment and saw some new posters pasted on the wall. 去年圣誕節(jié)過后不久，蘇珊娜到我家來了解情況，看到墻上貼著新的宣傳畫， Where39。d you get the money for those? she wanted to know.便想知道：“你從哪兒弄到錢來買這些？” Friends and family.“從朋友和家人那兒。” Well, you39。d better have a receipt for it, by God. You have to report any donations or gifts.“那么，你最好要張收據(jù)，真的，你接受任何捐獻(xiàn)或禮物都要報告?！?This was my cue to beg. 她這是在暗示我：得哀求她了。 Instead, I talked back. 但是我卻將她頂了回去。 I got a cigarette from somebody on the street the other day. Do I have to report that? “那天在馬路上有人給我一根煙，我也得報告嗎？”